Combination hands-and-feet swimming fins

ABSTRACT

A swimming device that includes a member made of a flexible material that has bands or straps thereon for engagement by the user&#39;&#39;s hands or feet.

United States Patent Steve A. Murawski 13422 Ave. K., Chicag Ill- 60633849,656

Aug. 13, 1969 Aug. 17, 197 1 lnventor Appl. No. Filed PatentedCOMBINATION IIANDS-AND-FEET SWIMMING F INS 2 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

u.s. Cl 9/307 1m. CL A6313 31/04, A63b 31/10, A63b 31/18 Field ofSearch9/301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309; 36/1 1.5, 100,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,505,032 3/1950 Devoos36/115 3,417,415 12/1968 Kozak 9/307 3,382,515 5/1968 McClure 9/307Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Gregory W. OConnorAttorneySherman Levy ABSTRACT: A swimming device that includes a membermade of a flexible material that has bands or straps thereon forengagement by the users hands or feet.

PATENTED AUG! 7:971

SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTOR. STEVE A-MURAWSKI HTTOZ VEY COMBINATIONHANDS-AND-FEET SWIMMING F INS This invention relates to swimming devicesor swimming fins, and more particularly swimming fins that can be eitherused on the hands or feet of the user.

There have been prior patents granted on swimming devices, such as priorU.S. Pat. Nos.

1,522,526, 2,078,068, 2,726,410, 3,112,503, 3,174,167. However, thepresent invention possesses certain important differences or advantagesover such prior patents.

A primary object of this invention is to provide combinationhands-and-feet swimming fins that consist of a flexible body member madeof a suitable material such as rubber, or plastic, or the like, andwherein the member has bands for engagement by a person's fingers ortoes, and wherein there are also provided straps for engagement by apersons wrist or ankle.

Still another object is to provide such combination handsand-feetswimming fins that provide increased flexibility, so that the parts canflex or bend in the desired manner, and wherein maximum efficiency isprovided in using the device in a body of water, and wherein, whendesired, an insert is adapted to be used to help protect the bottom ofthe feet.

Further objects and advantages are to provide improved elements andarrangements thereof in a device of the character described that iseconomical to produce, durable in form, and conducive to the mosteconomical use of materials and uniformity of members formed therefrom.

Still further objects and advantages will become apparent in thesubsequent description in the specification.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating one of the fins in position ona swimmers hand.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of one of the fins with the parts in theposition of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, illustrating the device in positionon a swimmers hand.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an insert that is adapted tobe used with the device, and showing a hook that can be used forsuspending the swimming fin from a suitable location, such as a belt,when the device is not being used.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating how the device is worn or usedon a person's foot.

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view showing the device in use on a personsfoot.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view, illustrating the device suspended from apersons hand when the device is not being used.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 30 indicates acombination hand-and-feet swimming fin that includes a body member 31made ofa generally flexible material such as plastic or rubber. The bodymember 31 includes spaced-parallel side edges 32, spaced-apart straightend edges 33 and 34, and inclined comer edge portions 35 and 36,

The body member is further provided with a plurality of spaced-parallelslots such as the slots 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42. These slots define orprovide in the body member a plurality of straps 43, 44, and 45 Thestraps 43, 44 and 45 are of different length due to the fact that theslots 37 through 42 are of varying length, and the straps 43, 44 and 45terminate inwardly from the side edges 32 of the flexible body member.As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the strap 44 is slightly longer thanthe strap 43 and the strap 45 is slightly longer than the strap 44. Thenumeral 46 illustrates a portion of a person's hand which has thefingers 47 extended through the straps, and the little finger 48 isadapted to be arranged exteriorly of the straps. Likewise, the thumb 49may be positioned exteri- Y orly of a strap such as the strap 45 whenthe device is being used. g

The body member 31 is further provided with a plurality of curvedslotted portions 50 which define therebetween arcuate bands or strapportions 51 and 52 for selective engagement with a portion of the usersbody such as the wrist 53.

As shown in the drawings, eyelets may be provided in an end portion ofthe body member 31, whereby a member such as a hook 55 can be arrangedin engagement with one of the eyelets 54 so that the device can beconveniently suspended from the user's belt or the like, when the deviceis not being used.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7 of the drawings, there is shown one of thefins being worn or used on a swimmers foot 56, and the numeral 57indicates a portion of the user's ankle, while the numeral 58 indicatesthe toes of the userfoot. The numeral 59 indicates an insert that isadapted to be used on the device just below the sole of the foot, andthe insert 59 includes arcuate sections 60, as well as arcuate or curvedportions 61. The insert 59 further includes diametrically opposedcutouts or slots or grooves 62 which snugly receive or engage a portionof the band 44 to help maintain the insert in place on the device whenthe device is being used on a persons foot.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that there has been providedcombination hand-and-feet swimming fins, and in use with the partsarranged as shown in the drawings, the swimming fins may be used on thehands as shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, and in addition the fins may alsobe used on the feet, as for example, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Whenusing the device on the hands, the fingers, such as the fingers 47, maybe conveniently inserted through the straps such as the straps 43, 44and 45, and the thumb 49 and little finger 48 may be arranged outside ofthe straps, as shown in the drawings, so that a firm and comfortablegrip is obtained. In addition, the wrist 53 of the user is adapted to beengaged by a strap or band 51 so that the device will be maintained inits proper position on the hand 46 of the user.

The device is made substantially of a single piece of flexible material,such as rubber or plastic having the desired degree of stiffness.However, the device can readily flex or bend so that, for example, theparts can be moved manually from the solidline position of FIG. 3 to thedotted line position of FIG. 3, and this provides increased flexibilityfor the hands and fingers of the user. It is to be understood that oneof the devices 30 may be arranged on each of the hands and feet of theuser as desired or required.

When the device is not being used, a hook such as the hook 55 can bearranged in engagement with an eyelet 54, so that the device can beconveniently supported from a users belt or other location.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, when the device is not being used, itcan be conveniently maintained on the users wrist by permitting the band51 to engage the fingers of the hand to remain free of the straps 43, 44and 45.

When the device is being used on the feet of the user, an insert, suchas the insert 59 is adapted to be positioned in engagement with themember 30, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. The insert 59 is provided withdiametrically opposed grooves or cutouts 62 that engage a strap such asthe strap 44, so as to maintain the insert stationary in its properlocation. Also, when the device is being used on the feet, the band 51is adapted to engage the upper portion of the foot, as shown in FIG. 7,and the band 52 engages the lower portion of the foot as shown in thedrawings, whereby this provides a positive means of maintaining thedevice connected to the foot.

The various parts such as the bands and straps are arranged andconstructed so that the hands and feet of the user can be readilyinserted therein or removed therefrom when desired, and in addition,these parts serve to insure that accidental disengagement of theswimming fins from the hands and feet will be prevented.

The parts can be made of any suitable material and in different shapesor sizes, as desired or required.

The swimming fins of the present invention will give the wearer agreatly increased pulling power in swimming so that greater enjoyment ofthe sport can be accomplished or provided. The device may be molded ofrubber or semiplastic and can be made in different sizes, such as large,small and medium. The bands or straps 51 and 52 serve to hold the devicein place on the hands or on the feet. Also, when the device is beingused on the feet, easier walking is assured as compared with regularstyle flat fins. The wearer can slip the fins off the hands or feeteasily, if needed. The devices are reversible or interchangeable, sothat they can be used on either the right or left hands or right or leftfeet, as desired. Due to the flexibility of the devices, as shown inFIG. 3, the hand fins enable the wearer to hold on to any object.

The present invention is characterized by its simplicity inconstruction, and the device is constructed so that it can flex or bendwhere needed. Also flexing action is permitted for both the hand andfeet fins, without requiring any straps or the like to bind the user,and the entire device consists of one lightweight piece of rubber orplastic, with a series of cutouts or slots that are arranged to hold thefins in place without any straps or other complicated parts tomanufacture, so that the device can be economically produced.

Also, when the hand is placed in the fin slots or straps, as shown inFIG. 4, for example, the fin forms a concaved cupshaped member which hasa tendency to form a suction effect at the point 63 that assures greaterpushing power. In addition, this slightly concaved configuration that isassumed by the fin, as shown in FIG. 4, helps provide the necessaryrigidity.

The rear slanted slots 50 are offset to the rear of the fin to providethe straps or bands 51 and 52.

The present invention is practical to use for swimming uses, and thedevices are light in weight and will flex or bend in the desired manner.No straps are needed to bind the hands or feet in the fins, and theslanted slots serve as holding bands that are easy to slip in or out ofby merely twisting the hands out of the slotted bands. One person canremove these fins by himself or herself when necessary. The fins willnot tire out an overhand swimmer or the like, and in addition the finsof the present invention have the means for holding the device in placeso that the device will not ordinarily get lost. There is nothing in thedevices to trap and hold water. There are no extra gadgets to hinder theswimmer with extra weight and the like. Also, the flexing or bendingaction in the fins permits the user to grasp objects or structures whennecessary. No assistance is required from others to slip the fins on oroff, since the user can readily release them by pulling the fingers outof the holding-slot bands. However, the fin will still hang onto hiswrist by the rear holding-slot band or strap 51 to prevent loss of thehand fins when trying to hold onto any object, and the user will stillhave full use of his hands when necessary.

The parts are arranged and constructed so that the skin will not bepinched. When the fins are used on the feet, easy walking is assured,and in addition, the feet will not accidentally slip out of the fins. Torelease the fins, it is only necessary to pull the bands or strapsthereof.

The insert 59 will cover the openings or slots to prevent cuts fromsharp objects, such as rocks or the like, and the insert is used in thefeet fins only.

The fins can be molded of polyethylene plastic, rubber or the like. Anadvantage of using polyethylene is that it floats naturally, which isessential for preventing loss of the fins in deep water.

Further, a belt-holding hookup of the fins can be used by lifeguards orthe like when on duty, but when the fins are not in actual use, forcarrying purposes and the like. This is important for lifeguards, forfaster swimming, and requires less effort in saving a drowning person.

Because the fins are flexible, the hand can bend the fin and hold on toalmost anything in the same manner as when a glove is being worn. Inaddition, the user can easily slip the fingers out of the slots and usethe whole hand with the fins still hanging on to the wrist, withoutlosing the fin in the water, and the fingers can be readily slipped backinto' the slots. As is known, any wide and flat-shaped device attachedto the feet of a swimmer assists in propelling the swimmer through thewater to some degree. Thus, the fins will help propel a swimmer throughwater depending upon the skill of the swimmer. With the use of the fins,the swimmer will have increased pulling surface on i hand with theseattached fins as compared to a person that does not have the fins on thehands. The fins will not merely fold themselves around the swimmer'sfoot due to the fact that they are rigid enough'to hold their desiredshape in the water, and the fins may be injected molded so that theywill be slightly thicker and reinforced around the edges where needed tohold their desired shape and still be sufficiently flexible to bend, inorder to hold on to things such as a surfboard and the like. The rearslots or holding bands of the fins may be curved or rectangular shapedas desired or required.

It will now be clear that there is provided a device which accomplishesthe objectives heretofore set forth. While the invention has beendisclosed in its preferred form, it is to be understood that thespecific embodiment thereof as described and illustrated herein is notto be considered in a limited sense as there may be other forms ormodifications of the invention which should also be construed to comewithin the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A combination hands-and-feet swimming fin embodying a flexible bodymember having spaced-parallel side edges, front and rear straight edges,and inclined edge portions at the corners of the body member, therebeing a plurality of slots in said body member defining straps ofvarying sizes, said straps terminating inwardly from the side edges ofthe body member, said straps adapted to be selectively engaged byportions of the hands and feet of a swimmer, curved slotted portions inthe rear of the body member defining a plurality of arcuate bands forselective engagement with the hands and feet of the user, and said bandsterminating inwardly from the sides of the body member.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 and further including eyelets insaid body member for engagement with a supporting hook, and an insertfor use with the fin when the fin is on a foot, said insert includingcurved portions, and said insert having diametrically opposed groovesfor engagement with portions of a strap.

1. A combination hands-and-feet swimming fin embodying a flexible bodymember having spaced-parallel side edges, front and rear straight edges,and inclined edge portions at the corners of the body member, therebeing a plurality of slots in said body member defining straps ofvarying sizes, said straps terminating inwardly from the side edges ofthe body member, said straps adapted to be selectively engaged byportions of the hands and feet of a swimmer, curved slotted portions inthe rear of the body member defining a plurality of arcuate bands forselective engagement with the hands and feet of the user, and said bandsterminating inwardly from the sides of the body member.
 2. The structureas defined in claim 1 and further including eyelets in said body memberfor engagement with a supporting hook, and an insert for use with thefin when the fin is on a foot, said insert including curved portions,and said insert having diametrically opposed grooves for engagement withportions of a strap.